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Facebook entries will be logged under new surveillance powers
27.04.09
Details of Facebook messages, texts and internet gaming activity of every person in Britain will be logged under proposed new laws unveiled today by Jacqui Smith.
Under the plans, which will cost up to £2 billion to implement, internet and phone companies will be required to store information on their customers' communications for a year. The Home Secretary said the aim was to combat crime, including terrorism, drugs smuggling and paedophile rings, by enabling the police to track criminals' contacts more easily.
In a concession to critics, she also announced that a previous idea of storing all the information on a single giant government database have been abandoned. Despite this, opponents immediately condemned the proposals as an excessive invasion of personal privacy. Ms Smith insisted that extending existing regulations, which already require the retention of data on emails and phone calls, was essential because of the “rapid technological changes” in the way that people communicate with each other.
She listed crimes, including the failed London and Glasgow car bombings and the murder of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones, where the current powers had proved vital in bringing offenders to justice.
She added: “My key priority is to protect the citizens of the UK. Communications data is an essential tool for law enforcement agencies to track murderers and paedophiles, save lives and tackle crime.”
The proposals will be subject to consultation prior to legislation being brought forward.
The actual content of emails and other communications will not be monitored, however, and police and MI5 will only be able to access such information if they gain specific approval in each case.
Opponents denounced the changes, with shadow home secretary Chris Grayling saying: “Everywhere we look, the Government seems to be building a database to track one aspect of our lives or another. We must not allow ourselves to become a Big Brother society.”
Shami Chakrabarti, director of civil rights group Liberty, added: “It is a hallmark of free societies that while the police target criminal suspects, government does not monitor the entire population.
“The authorities say that this consultation is about maintaining existing surveillance capacity, but the record of recent years suggests ever larger ambitions and show a creeping contempt for our personal privacy.”
Reader views (30)
Anonymous
"the rights of access to information and free speech without facing repercussions - two universal human rights that must be upheld whatever the cost, even if it means the safety of a nation - can never be guaranteed.
-- Who said that these are two universal human rights?? You're making quite a stretch there. If you do not live in a secure nation then your 'universal human rights' count for nothing.
Please do not tell us again what rights we have as humans. None of us really know what we are entitled to. We don't even know our purpose here.
--
- William Bailey, wgtn
It seems that since the porn angel has been closed,she now wants to get her kicks looking into other peoples business.
- David, london
Brandon Thomas, if you've got nothing to hide then what is the problem?
- William Bailey, wgtn
Sounds just like what is happening over here in Australia. Too much government interference too much bloody bureaucratic rubbish
- Kenn Brown, Brisbane Australia
The woman has gone mad. Someone have her committed!
- Simon, London
Greetings,
I am not part of the populace of your country nor do I represent it in any way other than that they are my fellow human beings. But I feel that I must express my utter contempt about the way you treat human beings.
A society in which people are monitored in every aspect of their lives is a disgrace to the ideals of liberty, freedom and democracy. For without the maintenance of one's privacy, the rights of access to information and free speech without facing repercussions - two universal human rights that must be upheld whatever the cost, even if it means the safety of a nation - can never be guaranteed.
Posing that these measures are required to safeguard security is fallacious and unacceptable, as any society that would give up their human rights and freedoms to gain security will deserve neither and ultimately lose both.
You hereby have my notice of disapproval. I hope you consider you are in the position of responsibility you are currently in to safeguard the rights of the people, and not to safeguard the status quo of your own political existence.
- Anonymous, worldwide
COME ON NOW.... they aint serious are they.... aint it bad enuff that our childrens details are all up on database with ease access to the pedophiles now they also wana invade our privacy and have the little entertainment sum people have and get by on their day to day bases.... i trully think they need to do better and constructive things like more housing and better education for those ineed and stop worrying about what we talk about on facebook .... or those the goverment actually have that much money to jst be wasting it like that...
- Vera, LONDON
Haw haw haw - all this from the woman who can't even supervise what films her husband watches and claims expenses for.
- C.Nichol, London
A leason Would someone rid us of this accursed Home Secretary ?
- Clive Allen, Brighton, UK
£2 billion of our money on stalking Facebook? Aren't there better things to spend on when we're going through a recession!
- Sai, London, UK
Labour are a communist party in disguise. They will be micro chipping babies next and telling us the same thing; for our safety. If they are allowed to continue at this rate there will be no privacy left and everyone will be monitored 24/7.
- Brandon Thomas, London UK
"The actual content of emails and other communications will not be monitored"
What a load of rubbish. This is routinely done by GCHQ/Echelon.
Proof positive that the Wacky Jacqui has lost it. The £2 billion could have been far better spent - on building jails and commissioning deportation flights for the criminals her department pamper with an early release.
- Jools, London
It's time for Shami Chakrabarti,CBE director of civil rights group Liberty to call it a day.
As ineffective as the day is long.
Pack it all in 'Shami' while we still have some liberties left.
- Tim Rathbone, Milton Keynes, UK.
Another E.U. law being implemented that Jacquie Smith is trying to make out was initiated in London. The British people can complain endlessly about this, but it will become the law of the land. The federal government in Brussels has passed it, and the provincial government in London has to now rubber-stamp it under their Treaty obligations. More than 80% of all new "U.K. legislation" is of this variety -- "E.U. legislation" masquerading as U.K. legislation so the British people can still think the U.K. is a country.
- Phil Jones, London UK
When she is kicked out of her job in the reshuffle after the local and Euro-land election fiasco for Za-Nu-Lab-Pf. Pa Broone will give her a job counting lamposts around the City of London square mile.
- Uncle Vanya, East Anglia Area England
Labour's legacy. A police state both morally and economically bankrupt
- Ian, Cranbrook, Kent
A way to keep tabs on what her old man is up to?
- Jilly, London
This woman terrifies me. i was a labour voter all my life, an activist for many years, but this is no socialist labour government, it is a totalitarian, authoritarian clique. voting them out will not change things, the Tories and their rightist friends will embrace the culture of repression with glee. We expect it from them, but not Labour. What have we done?
Aux barricades mes amis!
- Kerry, Purley
I see Jackboots Jacqui is at it again. Why doesn't she stick to counting the bathplugs and dodgy videos?
At least we only have a year to go until this ghastly non entity and the rest of the shambolic Labour crew can be cleaned out.
Let's hope they are consigned to the dustbin of history-and that they stay there for a very long time.
- David, London
As if the system will actually work, data to be stored for a year by each of the companies involved - I dont think so somehow, I am constantly reading or hearing about IT companies failing in their services after big budgets have been spent on upgrading IT infrastructure or large data projects etc....this will be just another excuse to waste more money (which we will inevitably have to stump up)and create the 'Big Brother state' that the government is desperate for. What if another lemon loses a memory stick with vital information on it.....it appears they are loading their own gun for this game of Russian roulette (but doing it with a blindfold on).
Jaqui Smith and other members of barmy-ment will have to certainly watch their backs, unless that is, they are excluded from this - which is the probable outcome.
Pay as you go mobile for me, and I shall have "Jaqui for prime minister" scrawled across my back side when the Google car passes my house and I am mooning from my driveway.
- Gman, Kent
It is clear to me that New Labour are the real enemies of human rights and human freedoms etc.
They have passed more laws than any other party has ever passed; in the same amount of elected power time.
Yet they cannot enforce any of their new laws; or even jail the guilty for the full term etc.
If this Government had put their time into running the country; instead of chopping away at our hard fought for liberties; we would not now be a bankrupt Nation today.
New Labour is a disgrace to all Socialists, and the people that founded the Labour Party in the first place.
Get out now you carpet baggers and fraudsters; England doesn’t want to know any of you; any more; you are dead.
- Mickyinlondon, london
Why bother with all this, they catch these people now and what do they do with them, put them back on the streets amongst us all, no point in brining in more ways to catch criminals,, need to use the money for their accomadation. otherwise its all pointless.
- Jacjonjack, lodon
sarah - i'm with you on that... overload the system with messages about Brown and his clan of idiots... Knowing the government's abilities in matters technological, the system will crash in days..
- Joanna, london
Along with ID cards and the NHS database, this plan is not only unaffordable it is unnecessary, undemocratic and anti-civil liberty.
In other words, typically Soviet Labour. All of the other parties would do well to promise scrapping thes intrusive outrages and putting an end to the Orwellian nightmare that NuLiebour are desparate to create.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster
Personally I detest Facebook and it's ilk, but the right to freedom of speech is the issue here, might I suggest that someone starts an abuse Jacqui Smith group (I am of course assuming they're aren't already thousands in existence.
- Bob, Cheam
It is a matter of extreme urgency to introduce surveillance of corrupt MPs expense claims and store the information until those MPs leave office. Only by doing so will tax payers be able to reclaim the properties they have purchased and furnished as "second homes".
- R.F., Yorks, UK
First, $2 billion will be just a start and the real number will be a state secret.
Second, when are you people going to finally rebel against the totalitarian government spying into your everyday lives where EVERYONE is considered a possible criminal or terrorist?
- Trunk, US
If this had been in force for a while, would it allowed her (oops sorry 'the appropriate authorities') to see what films her husband was watching?
- Jim, London
I vote we all send as many messages as possible simply saying I HATE JACQUI SMITH.
- Sarah Bradshaw, Enfield, Middx
Hmm ... these details won't all be used to chase paedophiles and terrorists, though, will they? They will just make it easier for both government and big companies to harass people who might disagree with them - as EDF apparently did with Greenpeace.
- K John, London, UK
